Literary snacks

On a real pedestrian level, collections of short stories, novellas and essays are great because you don't have to commit to a 300-page book. You can read a story here and there, whenever it fits into your schedule, and if you don't like one story you can quickly skip ahead to the next. On a higher level, writers often rise to greatness when they must convey their ideas in a brief span of pages. So here are a few new offerings for the reader on the go:
The Ends of the Earth: an anthology of the finest writing on the Arctic and the Antarctic, edited by Elizabeth Kolbert and Francis Spufford. The selections include the writings of explorers, scientists and novelists whose imaginations were captured by the poles. From the Antarctic exploration diaries of Shackleton and Amundsen to Elizabeth Kolbert's discussion of the effects of global warming on Shishmaref, this book offers a little something for everyone.
Sovereign Bones: new Native American writing, edited by Eric Gansworth, gathers essays from Native American poets and writers as they muse about their identities as writers and as Native Americans. They talk about how their writing reflects themselves and their culture, as well as the way they are viewed by others.
Wolf Woman Bay, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg is a collection of ten crime and mystery novellas. The authors of these gripping stories include Ed McBain, Joyce Carol Oates, Sharyn McCrumb and Carole Nelson Douglas. If you are a fan of crime fiction, you will enjoy this anthology.

Must be Spring....

Since our thoughts are supposedly turning to romance at this time of the year, the library has put a bunch of new romance novels on the shelf.
Mistletoe Bay, by Marcia Evanick, is a single-mom and burly handyman story set in Maine in December. Jennie Wright has three kids and a brand new business, and Cooper Armstrong is the brand-new UPS guy who is happy to help her fix up her house and raise up her three sons.
Accidentally Yours, by Susan Mallery, involves a relationship between a billionaire who needs to hook up with a wholesome single mom to improve his image and a single mom who needs a chunk of money to cure her dying son.
Big Girls Don't Cry, by Cathie Linz, revolves around a plus-size model who returns to the small town where she grew up. She ends up working as a receptionist for sexy cad Cole, who used to taunt her mercilessly in school. But now he finds himself falling in love with her sexy curves.
Dark Heart, by Sarah Brophy, is set in 12th century England. Zetta is a beautiful pickpocket, but she chooses the wrong target when she ambushes Sir Gareth de Hughues.
Down and Dirty, by Sandra Hill, features a time-traveling Viking warrior maiden and a maverick Navy SEAL. It's worth thumbing through this book just to read the horrible dialogue: a mixture of macho Navy slang and 10th century (?) Norse insults. Her response after their first steamy encounter is "In truth, methinks 'twould not merit a repeat." Hear, hear.

3 new history titles

For the history buffs amongst you, we have three interesting new books on the shelves.
In the Bunker With Hitler, by Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven is about an authentic account of that period that you could hope to read. von Loringhoven was an aide-de-camp to Hitler, and was present at the bunker during the last nine months of Hitler's life. He was allowed to leave the bunker - with Hitler's permission - the day before Hitler's suicide. His recollection of that time is a fascinating piece of material.
Going back a little further in time we have Aces Falling: war above the trenches, 1918, by Peter Hart. The introduction of aircraft into the military arsenal changed things greatly in WWI and initially the commanders of ground forces weren't sure how to counteract the bombs that rained down on them from the planes above. But by 1918 things had shifted, as more defensive weapons and maneuvers were being devised to dampen the threat of aircraft attacks. Craft does a wonderful job of describing air warfare during the waning days of WWI.
Continue back with me as we examine another seminal historical event: the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. For the 150th anniversary of this tragic period, historian Julian Spilsbury has written The Indian Mutiny. No one comes out good in this story, and it was a horrific summer for everyone involved. Spilsbury explains the simmering racial and religious tensions that led up to the rebellion, the horrible massacres, and the aftershocks which reached all the way to London.

House Lust

My father grew up in a family of seven with one bathroom. Decades later, I know childless couples that wouldn't dream of living in a house without at least two bathrooms. Everybody now has to have a dishwasher, a mudroom, and walk-in closets. Making your kids share a bedroom (gasp!) is considered cruel and unusual. And how do we get these fabulous houses with all this space and dozens of amenities? We borrow a huge amount of money and purchase homes we can't possibly afford.
With dire news about foreclosure rates and plummeting home sales appearing daily, what better time to read Daniel McGinn's new book - House Lust: America's obsession with our homes. McGinn examines the change in American culture over the last few decades, and the way that more Americans have begun to use their homes to display their wealth and status. He also talks about the recent popularity of real estate investment and the growing idea that savvy deals are the quick and easy way to a fortune. He peppers his book with true accounts of home owners and investors from across the country. Reading this book is a little like reading a Gothic novel; you can see the danger coming. You know the heroine shouldn't wander around the mysterious house alone at night, but you're powerless to stop her.

TAG on call

I would like to extend a very big thank-you to the members of the library's Teen Advisory Group who came to help orient the public to our new catalog. The teens were here all day on Saturday, explaining how to search for titles, find books on the shelf, and check personal library accounts using our new iBistro catalog system. They also explained to one patron how to set up a MySpace page, and helped transfer books from the New shelves to the regular stacks. It was a nice tie-in with national Teen Tech Week and it gave the public a chance to meet our wonderful TAG volunteers.

The Great Generals series

For those of you who are interested in military history, reading about great battles and military tactics is a source of enjoyment. And, of course, reading about the military minds behind those tactics is no less interesting. We have a series of biographies about great Generals that you should check out, and we have just received our sixth installment in the series: Bradley by Alan Axelrod. We also have biographies of Eisenhower, Grant, MacArthur, Patton and Stonewall Jackson. These books aren't very long (generally about 200 pages), but they are a really nice supplement to other history books that are more concerned about events and politics than personalities and motivations. The series editor is retired General Wesley K. Clark, and in his foreword to Bradley, he discusses the impact that Bradley had on the "style and substance" of the United States Army. As nice as it is to read a biography written by an historian, seeing what a person's peers have to say about them is always enlightening. If you haven't browsed through this particular series, I recommend a closer look.

Une vie française

Now that we are past all that silly nonsense about 'freedom fries', I feel safe trotting out a couple of books that celebrate French culture and society.
Paris Café: the Sélect crowd by Noël Riley Fitch and Rick Tulka is an entertaining look at one of the most quintessential of the Parisian cafés. Its small little tables hosted the likes of Simone de Beauvoir, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller, and it continues the tradition of being for "people who want to be alone but need company for it". There are a few recipes in the back for café staples - Onion Soup, Welsh Rarebit, Croque Monsieur - but most of the book is about the culture of the café. One of the most appealing facets of the book are Rick Tulka's sketches of the patrons. It brings the whole place to life, and you could almost feel like you are sitting there with a hot café au lait in front of you.

The French Century: an illustrated history of modern France, by Brian Moynahan, is a more wide-ranging book. A chronological look at how France changed throughout the 20th century, this book covers all aspects of French society: arts, politics, sports, fashion, history, and economics. There is attention paid to the French love of vacations, the dark history of their treatment of French Jews in WWII, and the scandals that rocked the government in the late 1980's. If you want to know about the French, this is the book to read.